Watch leopard seals play and hunt in Antarctica

These half-ton predators sometimes toy with penguins, slapping them against the sea surface. Typically leopard seals hunt alone from offshore ice floes. But with sea ice appearing later and disappearing sooner, they now often congregate close to shore, where the penguin colonies are. Watch National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen dive with these dangerous, and often misunderstood, creatures.

Read the full article “The Big Meltdown” featured in National Geographic magazine’s November issue.

Watch leopard seals play and hunt in Antarctica

These half-ton predators sometimes toy with penguins, slapping them against the sea surface. Typically leopard seals hunt alone from offshore ice floes. But with sea ice appearing later and disappearing sooner, they now often congregate close to shore, where the penguin colonies are. Watch National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen dive with these dangerous, and often misunderstood, creatures.

Read the full article “The Big Meltdown” featured in National Geographic magazine’s November issue.